Delirium

Delirium Brewery

Although the location of the brewery has been producing beer since 1654, it wasn't until 1938 that the brewery got its current name Delirium Brewery. Delirium beers were first made as a normal pilsner however they soon began producing beers that are now typically see as Belgian. The selection of Belgian beer they produce is under the Delirium name, with the iconic pink elephant on the front of the labels.

The best known of the Delirium beers is the Delirium Tremens which is a blonder Belgian ale. Delirium Tremens is one of their most recognisable beers with its ceramic bottle and blue foil wrapping around its bottle neck. Others beers made by the Delirium Brewery include Christmas beer called Deliria, as well as some fruit beers that have a low ABV.

Whilst it is a popular beer there has been some controversy over its name as the name in Latin actually refers to a sometimes fatal episode of delirium, which usually comes from the withdrawal of alcohol after excessive drinking or during heavy alcohol consumption. Of course, due to the controversy over the name, whilst it was released in the 1980s, some of it has been removed from some international sellers.

It is worth remembering that there is nothing that encourages unhealthy drinking. The pink elephant is just a nod to the creative madness which takes place at the Delirium Brewery. To make sure that they don’t offend anyone or any country Delirium has even offered to change the name and label, to have only the word “Delirium” in place to make sure there is no confusion.

With Delirium being produced since 1989 and becoming more and more popular around the world it soon found itself claiming many different awards including ‘Best Beer In The World’ in 2008 at the World Beer Championships in Chicago USA.

Delirium is in fact part of the Brouwerij Huyghe Brewery. Before Delirium was bought in 1980’s, Huyghe brewery was only making about 13,000 hectolitres a year, compare that to last year when they produced 165,000 hectolitres and of that produce 70% was sent to international sellers including us here at Beers of Europe.

Huyghe Brewery also have other brands under them including:

• La Guillotine which was made to mark the 200th anniversary of the French revolution and is a 8.5% ABV beer

• Floris which made them the first brewery to produce fruit beer in Belgium

Huyghe has also worked with Mongozo African Breweries to create a series of beers, one of which is a banana beer modelled on a traditional beer of the Masai tribe.